The Ups and Downs of Vegas
by Master and Commander
Summary: Las Vegas. The city of gambling. ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.’ Whatever you like to call it, many find the bright city heaven. But not many people realize the beautiful place has its downsides too... Ch. 2 up! :o
1. Conversations

Hello everyone! Commander here! Yep, this is my newest obsession: Chrono Crusade! I just wuff it to bits! Well, this idea came to me when we were down in Galveston. We were looking in an old antique shop, and I saw this statue of a Vegas showgirl. I was a little disgusted with it at first, but for some strange reason, this little idea popped into my head. Talk about random story ideas. Well, on with the story already!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Chrono Crusade. But think of the possibilities if I did.

**Note: **This story contains action, some humor, a bit of suggestive themes, language, and romance. Enjoy!

* * *

Las Vegas. The city of gambling. 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.'

Whatever you like to call it, many find the bright city heaven. But not many people realize the beautiful place has its downsides too. There are gangs, murderers, trouble makers, thieves, you name it. I guess it's not paradise after all.

In the dark alleyway, a silhouette of a figure could be seen through the mist. It leaned against the wall leisurely, as if waiting for something. Or should I say someone.

A small, short man waltzed past the corner where the figure stood. And in a blink of an eye, the man was gone, as was the suspicious figure. Moments later, the silhouette moved out of the shadow, revealing blood-covered hands, which were casually wiped on the wall. His name was Chrono. Many called him Chrono the Sinner. He was the second highest ranked hit man in Vegas; head wanted in all the police stations. His file wasn't pretty, not at all. He'd committed a total of a booming 28 murders, 13 thefts, and 2 casino vault break-ins. He sure isn't the type you want to be seen with.

When the devil had managed to rid his hands of the thick, red liquid, he entered the nearest building: Showgirl Casino. Hehe, his favorite place.

And so our story begins…

**Chapter One : Conversations in the Rain**

The young man made his way into the suggestively named building. But then again, this _was_ Vegas after all. What did you expect? His long violet hair brushing past gamblers at the slot machines as they cursing the damned things for not rewarding them, and hopelessly pulling the lever again, just to repeat the process all night. His abnormally long hair glided over a vacant slot machine, catching on the handle. Chrono yelped as he was yanked backwards, hitting his backside on the machine painfully.

He cursed under his breath as he tried to yank his tangled locks off the cursed contraption. Passers-by sniggered at his failed attempts, and more people stood casually around, creating a large crowd. And all to watch a demon try to get his hair uncaught from a slot machine. Quite a site it was.

The devil finally succeeded pulling his matted locks off, and the crowd disappeared, going home to tell friends and family about the display they'd seen at the casino. Chrono slunk away, distastefully noting the large mat on his head, and began to try to work it out with his fingers, with no avail. He soon gave up and tucked it under the rest of his shimmering violet hair, trying to hide it from view so another crowd wouldn't form to stare at him.

When he got to the brightly lit door he chuckled to himself, and pushed them open, to reveal what this place was all about. Scantily-clad women dancing around suggestively? Oh yeah, that's what he was talking about. But he never really got into the whole showgirl thing until…until that girl showed up…

He actually didn't know her name, but she sure was pretty. And she wasn't like the rest of them either. No, she wasn't as slutty as those other girls. She seemed very modest. One time he had actually gotten a rather close seat to the stage, and caught a close-up glimpse of her. The devil remembered it very clearly. He could just swim in those brilliant blue eyes of hers…

"Chrono!" The young demon nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard his name being hissed through the darkness of the crowded theatre. He scanned the audience for the person who had called out to him, crimson eyes darting from person to person.

His fiery gaze finally rested upon a shady person leaning against the corner of the packed room. The devil slunk over to him, whispering.

"What is it Joshua?"

"The boss wants to see you. He doesn't sound too happy."

The purple haired boy sighed heavily. "Fine. Just let me catch the end of this show, 'kay?"

The blonde man namedJoshua smiled. "I didn't know you were into that kinda stuff, Chrono. I guess you were more of a player than I thought." He laughed again. "That Rosette's a beauty, isn't she?"

Chrono continued to stare at the blonde girl on stage. "Rosette…what a lovely name… Hey Joshua, how do you-" but the man was already gone. Chrono shook his head, and looked at the girl on the stage one last time. He stared through the dark, and as one light reflected off his eyes, he and the girl locked gazes. She stopped her routine abruptly, frozen, blue eyes lockedon his red ones. But as soon as she blinked, he had left before she even knew what had happened. She didn't even see the tomato that was about to smack her in the face.

.-

Chrono was out in the alleyway again, this time busying himself cleaning up any traces of him being there, when he heard shrieks come from behind the door that led to the back room of the casino. He amused himself by eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Rosette you stupid girl! What was that?"

"Kate, I'm sorry, it won't happen ag-"

"You're always messing up our show! We're getting fewer customers each week!"

"I'll do better! I promise!"

"That's what you say every week! Get out! I've had it with you Rosette! I gave you another chance last week, but no, you just had to mess this oen up. Now do us all a favor and rid us of your stupidity."

He heard muffled sobs come from the room again. He jumped several feet in the air as the door flew open and a girl crashed out of it, spraying tears everywhere. Obviously the girl wasn't all too bright, and collided with Chrono, who was innocently disposing of the dead man's body in the dumpster. A loud smack echoed from the alleyway, and people stopped to stare at what had made the noise. And who would have thought, another crowd formed. This just wasn't his night.

Rosette lifted herself off the devil, holding her throbbing head. She groaned as the pounding got worse, and looked over at who she had collided with. The dazed boy lifted himself off the ground. His eyes were a bit unfocused, but it wasn't her problem if she had caused this guy brain damage. The violet haired boy managed to make his vision a bit clearer, though he was seeing double. Was it just him, or were there two pretty showgirls in front of him? In a dark alleyway? At one in the morning? Oh, he had to get his mind out of the gutter…

He grinned crazily, obviously still dazed. "Hey there, sexy," he said, winking at her, and then falling unconscious as the girl beat him to a bloody pulp.

.-

When Chrono regained consciousness, he found he had a black eye, a bloody lip, a few bruises, and his sensitive area hurt really, really bad. He propped himself up against the brick wall of the dark alley, gazing around. The demon spotted the girl who had almost crushed his dreams of ever having children. She was lying in the shadows, sleeping. The boy waddled over to her, shaking her shoulder lightly. She opened her hazy sapphire eyes, staring right at him. Chrono fumbled with his words, gazing into her ocean-blue orbs.

"What is it, creep?" she barked, snapping him out of the trance he was in.

Rosette looked him over, noting how much harm she had done to the poor boy.

The girl sighed and sat up, leaning towards him, feeling bad that she had mangled him so badly. But then again, he didn't act very much like a gentleman when she first met him. "Sorry 'bout that mister," Rosette said. She wiped away the blood that was flowing from his lip with her finger.

Chrono weakly smiled. "Why'd you have to kick me?" he squeaked, turning a light shade of pink.

Rosette held back her laughter, blushing slightly too. She remembered his reaction very clearly. God that felt good.

"I was having a bad night. That stupid old hag fired me. I'm sort of glad that I don't have to work there though. I was getting tired of those sex-hungry pigs watching me dance, anyway." She looked up at the sky as it began to rain.

Rosette noted the blood coming from a cut on his forehead. She sheepishly apologized and went to clean it off. But before she could he caught her hand, looking into her eyes. Her own orbs widened as she recognized his wine-colored gaze. The girl giggled a bit and said, "So you're the sex-hungry pig with the pretty eyes, huh?"

Chrono laughed softly at her statement. "That's me alright…"

The girl smiled widely. "The name's Rosette. Pleased to meet 'cha!"

"Chrono. The pleasure's mine."

And they engaged in a deep conversation as the sky poured down upon them.

.-

Hours later they began to run out of things to talk about. Rosette was surprised at herself for getting to know this stranger so well. It wasn't like her to do that. But somehow she related to him so well. It was odd.

The girl laughed at Chrono's soaked hair as he flung it over his shoulder, causing a loud wet slap be heard. Rosette just shook her head.

"What a shame," she whispered, reaching towards his face, running her delicate fingers through his wet locks. "To hide such a cute face behind all this hair shouldn't be allowed." The girl touched his cheek lightly, running her hand over his soft tan skin. Rosette crawled around behind him and sat cross-legged, starting to separate his sopping locks into sections. She felt the devil stiffen as she began to slowly braid his hair, but soon felt him relax at her touch.

When Rosette was done, she held the end of his hair, as not to let her perfect braid fall out. Okay, it wasn't perfect, but she hadn't braided hair in a while. The blonde glanced around, looking for something to tie it with, and began to work a yellow ribbon off the hem of her dress. She tied it in his locks, creating a nice big, yellow bow. Chrono slowly stood up, turning to face her. Rosette's eyes widened…

Just by pulling his hair back, she had taken years off his appearance, seemingly reducing his age to12. She giggled lightly, striking a triumphant pose. "That's more like it! Now everyone can see your face!"

Chrono forced a smile, thinking to himself. 'But I don't want people to see my face. Though it is nice to have it out of the way…'

"Well, it's getting late, I should be going now," the demon said. He glanced over at Rosette, who averted her eyes to the ground. "About that. Eh, do you think I could crash with you tonight?" Chrono got a doubtful look, and she quickly hurried on. "I mean, just for a couple of days! At least until I can find a place to rent. Please?"

"But I don't think-"

Rosette began to sob. She snapped around, turning her back to him as she buried her face in her gloved hands. 'Time to put all my showgirl knowledge into action.' She looked up at the sky, sighing heavily. "I guess I'll just stay here. Wait, but what'll I eat? I'll starve! Oh no!" The girl began to wail, and while doing that she had managed to wiggle her backside around, right in front of the devil.

Chrono's nose began to bleed, and he quickly covered it up with his sleeve. "I gueff shoo could shtay wiff ush," he mumbled through his now bloody jacket sleeve, mentally kicking himself forcaving in.

"Oh, Chrono! I couldn't ask for a more generous offer! But if you insist!" Rosette snaked her arm around him own, grinning madly. 'Tee hee, I knew it'd work.'

Chrono sighed, his nose bleed lessening slightly. 'How will I ever pull this one off?'

* * *

Well! How'd you guys like it? I sure hope it was long enough! 5 pages exactly. I didn't want to have too much in here. I need to save some for the other chapters.My fingers are killing me! Whew! Well, what are you waiting for? Review, review, review! Comments and suggestions are welcome. Bye-bye now! 


	2. Undercover

**BADAAA**! Yes, I decided to continue. I'll continue with the story, since I played around with a buncho fun ideas. Updates might not be so often, since school's been pretty tough lately.

Thank you so much for all the encouraging comments! I love you guys! XP Anyhow, I finally got the ideas flowing again. But first, I believe special thanks are in order!

**Moonlit Showers aka InuKag Fan-** Thanks! I hope that's what happens. Thanks for the encouragement!

**raspberrysorbet -** XP Ah, don't worry, widdle Chrno's not a murderer. Thankies!

**MisoGirl-** Thanks! Hmm, you'll find out about Chrno soon. XP Hopefully you'll like this chapter.

**Scarred Rose- **Ah, I see. Thanks for the comment!

**KonekoMiyabi-** Ah, they need to just hurry up and put it out in book stores. XP The anime was like, way too sad at the end. Thanks!

**JasmineScent85-** Well, looks like I'm continuing, so hopefully you like this!

**tegan new** - Thanks for the comment! I like Australia too, lol.

**Outsane- **Thank you! Haha, I'm glad I made your day. You made mine.

Okay...on with the show!

* * *

Chapter 2: Undercover 

Chrno peeked around the corner of a tall building before darting out into the street. The devil still wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten into this situation. Here he was, one of the most infamous murderers, running around Vegas early in the morning with a young showgirl. Maybe it was just because she was so damn cute. But still, Aion would not be pleased by the situation.

'Aion!' he mentally yelled, stopping abruptly, causing Rosette to collide into him. 'How could I have forgotten? Aion'll kill me if he finds out about this!'

The blonde rubbed her chin that'd come in contact with Chrno's head. "Hey mister, why'd you stop?" she questioned, checking to see if she still had all of her teeth in tact.

Chrno quickly snapped out of his daze, darting into a dark alley, girl still in tow. He stared at her seriously, looking her in the eyes. "You see, the place I stay at...well..." He pondered for a moment. Obviously he'd have to come up with a good story to fool this one. "The place I stay at doesn't allow women."

Rosette gave him a rebellious smirk. "Oh I see. So you play by the rules, huh? Don't want to get in trouble? You know, life isn't fun if you don't take risks." He looked doubtful, so she rushed on. "Come on, it's not like we'll get caught. Just be like 'Oh she's my girlfriend from out of town that I only see once a year.' They'll buy that right?" Chrno still looked doubtful.

The blonde gave a small distorted yell out of frustration. "I'll do anything mister! Anything!"

Chrno looked thoughtful for a moment. But that made Rosette a little uneasy. She wasn't a mind reader, but she had some good guesses of what he might be thinking. And she didn't like them at all.

"Deal. You do what I say, and you can stay with me." The devil held out his hand with a cute smile. Rosette uneasily forced a smile, and hesitantly shook his hand.

'Oh Rosette, what have you gotten yourself into...'

.-.

They arrived at a dingy-looking apartment building. It's dark brown paint was peeling, and it looked like it could use some fixing up. Okay a lot of fixing up.

Rosette coughed as the musty smell hit her like a slap as Chrno opened the door. He freaked out, slapping his hand over her mouth. The devil gave her a dead stare. "Not a sound," he mouthed. The blonde nodded her head vigorously.

They maneuvered through the hallway before they stopped in front of one of the room doors. The devil fumbled with his keys, unlocked the door, and all but threw the poor girl inside the room. He threw the door closed halfway before catching it, and closing it gently all the way. Then Chrno proceeded to lock four different locks on his door. Rosette was getting more uneasy by the minute.

When the devil finally finished with the door, he turned around slowly, a blank stare on his face.

Rosette spazzed, frantically looking around the tiny room for a window she could jump out of.

The boy slowly walked over to the bed, mere feet from the blonde, before doing a face plant on the mattress. All Rosette heard was a muffled "So...tired..." She smiled to herself, curling up in a fuzzy red blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.

.-.

"HEY CHRNO!"

Both people in the small room shot up in an instant. The small devil realized his situation and frantically grabbed the girl's hand, throwing her into the closet roughly, mouthing a quick 'sorry'.

"One minute!" the violet haired devil yelled, grabbing a bottle of strangely colored liquid, spraying it over the spot where the blonde had been. He quickly throwing the bottle off into a corner, and yanked out the yellow ribbon that held his braid, causing his hair to fall neatly out over his back. The devil quickly threw it aside too before quickly trotting to the door.

Chrno opened the door slowly, though only a small sliver. The man on the other side looked confused. He was huge, with a stern look on his face. "Something the matter?" he asked, staring at Chrno's eye, which was the only visible thing.

"No, no, nothing's the matter Viede. I'm not feeling too great today, that's all. My head hurts."

The large man named Viede looked concerned. "Okay, come down later. We have a meeting. Aion'll be announcing the next tar-"

"Okay! Thanks Viede!" yelled Chrno, before slamming the door in the man's face. 'Whew, that was close. If Rosette finds out about my job, she'll call the police on me.'

As his thoughts moved to the feisty blonde, he jumped up, remembering he'd thrown her in the closet. He moved over to the sliding door, and opened it, revealing a dazed Rosette tangled in a heap of clothes. The devil smiled sheepishly as he helped her back up.

Suddenly he heard approaching footsteps, and realized something very bad. 'Shit! I didn't lock the door!'

The devil let go of the poor girl, who fell back into the heap of clothes, still dazed, and slammed the door again. Chrno reached the door just as the man opened it. "Y-yes Viede? Did you forget to tell me something?"

The large devil had a confused look on his face. He handed Chrno a small bottle. "I brought you some medicine for your head. I hope it helps."

The small devil smiled. Viede could be so kind sometimes, though it didn't show through that often. He took the bottle from him, thanked him again, and proceeded to lock the door back after Viede had left.

Chrno sighed again and walked back over to the closet. The devil slowly opened the door, wondering if he'd accidentally killed the poor blonde. But the door only revealed a very dazed Rosette, sprawled out over his pile of laundry. Chrno chuckled as he held out his hand again.

Rosette took it, grasping it firmly. "Don't you dare drop me again Mister!" Chrno laughed, and helped her up. Rosette dusted herself off, and looking around the room. "Nice place you got here. Though it's kinda small...and it could use some cleaning...and it smells bad...and-"

"Okay, I get your point! I'll clean up. But first, let's get you a place to sleep." He looked at the girl, who was staring longingly at his bed. He smiled sheepishly. "I would let you sleep there, but I don't want my colleagues to detect any traces of you being here. So, I'll try to make a close second. Is that okay?"

The blonde snorted. "Of course. I mean, who am I to dictate where I sleep? It's your home." She stopped for a moment and smirked. "Though you make it sound like your friends can smell me on your stuff or something."

Chrno faked a laugh. 'You don't know how right you are...'

.-.

Rosette sighed as she swirled her finger around the floor in a circle. Chrno had gone out, saying that he had an important business meeting. Her rules were to not move, make no sound, and definitely not to leave the room.

She looking at her finger in disgust, noticing it was covered in dust. 'This guy needs to clean up once in a while. He should at least have a maid. Then it wouldn't be...so...dirty...'

Her thoughts slowed as a new idea formed in her head. Apparently she wasn't gifted at multi-tasking.

'That's it!' she mentally yelled, striking a triumphant pose. 'I'll do him a favor and clean up for him!' Rosette got up and made sure the door was locked all the way. The blonde grinned like the Cheshire Cat, and began to take everything off the floor. 'Fear me, for I am Rosette, slayer of dust bunnies! Muahahaha!'

Yep, she's lost it.

.-.

The young devil looked around cautiously, making certain no one was lurking about in the hallway. Chrno knocked on the door, to let Rosette know that she had better get out of sight. He flicked his violet locks over his shoulder, noting how much they got in his way. As he silently and carefully opened the door, he was hit in the face with a huge wave of dust.

Chrno started a coughing fit, slamming the door again. His eyes watered with all the little dust particles that got in them. His ears twitched as footsteps were heard, and he quickly locked the door back. Just as the violet-haired demon finished, a cat girl appeared.

"Well hey there Chrno! You okay? Rather nasty cough you got there!" the girl said, happily bouncing up to him.

He smiled warmly at her. "Thanks Shader, I'm fine. It seems my room is rather dusty at the moment." He made sure he said the last part loudly, so maybe the crazy blonde in his room would hear.

"Okie dokey!" the cat girl said. Her expression suddenly changed, and her eyes darted around, making sure no one was listening to their conversation. "By the way, Aion wants you to finish the job tonight. Good luck. I heard this one's dangerous."

Chrno's little pointy ears drooped down. "Perfect," he said, words dripping with sarcasm. Then his thoughts went back to Rosette and decided that it probably wasn't good for her lungs to fill up with dust. "Thanks for the information, but I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to sleep now."

Shader smiled cutely again, and bounded off as fast as she had come.

Chrno quickly unlocked the door and rushed in to help the suffocating girl. And there he found Rosette, collapsed on the bed, swirly eyed, and mumbling something about dust bunnies.

"R-rosette! What happened in here?" Chrno whispered just loud enough for her to hear. He coughed loudly again, and raced over to the window to let some fresh air in, and raced back over to the unconscious girl. "Rosette, can you hear me?" The devil frantically tried to think of what to do.

"Ah-ahh-ehh-urgh-oh what the heck!" The little demon cursed himself for not knowing CPR, but nonetheless, he tried his best...which happened to be just locking his mouth to hers andexhaling heavily. He came up for air did a few more breaths. Just as he was about to do another, the girl's eyes returned to normal just in time for her to see him coming to down to help her breathe. But being the silly girl she is, Rosette thought he was doing something different. Something very different from trying to save her life.

Rosette squeaked as his lips met hers, and she promptly shoved his face away. Chrno let out a yell of surprise as her soft hands collided with his face, pushing it away.

"Roseeh, thas my nuuse!" he managed out as the blonde pushed harder on his face, but mostly his nose. Poor Chrno's nose. It didn't do anything wrong.

"Get off me you pervert!" she yelled, pulling his flowing violet hair. This earned a yelp from the poor demon, who was having trouble moving away since Rosette was yanking his locks downwards. Combined with the pushing on his face, Chrno was in a bit of pain.

"Rosette, gush lisn! Plee-"

Suddenly, the pulling and pushing stopped, and Chrno looked down at the girl under him-

Oh wait, maybe that was why she hadn't thought he was trying to help her. They were, after all, in a very...less-than-innocent position. The devil hovered over the girl on his hands and knees, legs spread wide.

"Explain. Now." Rosette's words snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Rosette, no matter how bad this looks, I was only trying to help. You were-"

"I was unconscious so you decided to have a little fun with me. That's it, isn't it? Just waiting for me to fall asleep or something so you could-"

"No! I'd never do that! You fainted, and I was doing...well trying to do CPR on you. I didn't mean for it to look so dirty! I was honestly trying to help!"

"...Well you _could_ help me by getting off of me."

Chrno blushed deeply, remembering their current state. "Oh right. Sorry."

They sat on the bed, and Rosette folded her arms. "How do I know you didn't do anything to me?"

Chrno sighed again. "Rosette you have to believe me. I didn't touch you anywhere, err, off-limits."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I guess I believe you. But you have to admit, it is kinda fishy to have a guy you've known for a day kissing you on a bed when you're unconscious."

"But I wasn't kissing you! It was CP-"

He stopped in mid-sentence as he felt soft fingers on his cheek. "It's okay. I said I believe you."

The devil smiled. "Thanks." His thoughts clouded with happy pink ponies and other such girly things as she ran her fingers through his hair.

'Mmm, I could stay like this all night. Too bad I already have something to do... OH APPLESAUCE!'

Chrno jumped up abruptly as he remembered his job that needed to be done tonight. "I'm sorry, I just remembered I have a meeting later. I'm going to be late!" He grabbed his coat and sunglasses, before telling a very puzzled Rosette, "Now, the same rules apply. No sound and no leaving. And you might want to close that window...just in case. See ya!"

Rosette just blinked as the door slammed, and she heard his rapid footsteps disappear.

She smiled and shook her head. 'Oh Rosette, you're in over your head.'

.-.

Chrno ran over to a group of people standing in a dark alley.

"You're late, Chrno," said a tall man with white hair in a high ponytail and a white trench coat.

"Yeah," said another man in a cowboy hat, "we thought you weren't gonna show!"

Chrno laughed sheepishly. "No, sorry, I just got kinda caught up with something."

Another woman in a flashy dress raised an eyebrow. "Really now? What was this thing that caused you to be late to one of the biggest murders we've had?"

"W-well, you see Rizel, umm..." Chrno searched frantically for an explanation.

The man with the cowboy hat looked thoughtful. "Yeah, there was an awful lot of noise and yelling coming from your room. You didn't have anyone in there with you, right? Since you of all people should know that's strictly forbidden."

All eyes were on Chrno as he still stuttered, searching for an excuse.

"Y-yeah, see..." Chrno started. "I kinda got this new umm...self-pleasure device. It's pretty...intense..."

The group stared blankly at him. Chrno shifted uncomfortably, his face red as a cherry.

A few minutes passed before the man with the trench coat cleared his throat loudly. "Okay then. Then I guess it's time to do the job." He stopped, looking over at the violet haired devil. "Oh, and by the way Chrno, just for future reference, keep those things to yourself."

* * *

XD Woo! 7 pages in Word! 

So how'd you like it? Make sure you leave me a comment! Constructive critisism and suggestions are welcome!

Again, thanks for reading! -_heart_-


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